Immigration

Many immigrants who come to the United States have to overcome stereotypes along with judgment and mistreatment by others who lack the knowledge to understand their predicament. "Risking their lives crossing borders or being smuggled on ships are not modern-day heroes in the public eye. As undocumented immigrants, they are stigmatized and unwanted. Illegal entry, as I have shown, was not an issue a hundred years ago for European immigrants. Today, however, it is a major public concern. One reason for the focus on "illegals" in immigration debates is that it is one way that old-time Americans can support the notion that immigration is good and made America great while at the same time distancing themselves, and their ancestors, from contemporary rivals. My people, the argument goes, came legally in the past and were the model immigrants, today, too many are illegal and should not be here at all. But contrary to conventional wisdom, New York is not awash in a sea of illegal immigrants. At any one time, the undocumented are a fairly small proportion of New York's foreign-born. The evidence suggests that many come with skills and education and are not inevitably of "lower quality" than their compatriots who arrive legally, green card in hand"(Foner 2000:35).